This article is a testament to hypnosis and how it has helped me over the past three years. Suffering from alcohol addiction, and flashbacks into my history; it was beyond doubt that I needed help just a few years ago. By the time I met Thomas, I was already at the very end of my struggle with alcohol, but the same could not be said for my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Painful memory flashbacks would occur during the days, while nightmares would haunt me through the nights. I certainly suffered with my fair share of issues.

It was after a lengthy discussion that both me and Thomas decided that we would have a hypnosis session, in which he would directly speak to my unconscious mind to help me deal with my most disturbing memories. It is important to remember that repression is rarely a wise course of action on a long-term basis, but there are nevertheless times when it is necessary to ease the suffering for the short term needs of a patient. During my first hypnosis session, Thomas simply made my memories less painful, rather than eliminating them completely. Instead of altering the crippling memories, Thomas felt it was safer to merely alter some of my feelings associated with those memories. Removal of a person's memories always runs the risk of a much harsher return. After the hypnosis session, I became functional again. My nightmares were almost completely eliminated. My confidence and self-esteem became once again high enough for me to live fairly happily from day to day. Treatment by hypnosis was not, of course, a one-shot deal. There were numerous hypnosis sessions, and there were times when I struggled; but life was livable again. Hypnosis paved the way toward my recovery... but I still needed to walk the path.

It was when we decided to write the book, 'Love: The Opposite of Power' that we thought of using hypnosis for detailed memory recall. Memory recall through hypnosis is very effective, because the unconscious barely forgets a single detail from one's past. Hypnosis would reveal not only the events that took place years before, but the food that was being cooked, the layout of the rooms, the atmosphere, the temperature (based upon what I knew at the time), and every word that was spoken and overheard. Such a memory bank is nothing less than a blessing when considering a book which holds an autobiographical core beginning in early childhood. It would have been foolish to not use this opportunity. Although I have no difficulties in remembering the more traumatic parts of my history, there are events in the book which were traumatic for others, from when I was too young to comprehend it. Without hypnosis, some of the events leading to my mother's death would have been partial guesswork. These hypnosis sessions were recorded with a voice recorder to ensure that no information was lost, and has since been incorporated into the first few chapters.

During hypnosis, the patient's conscious mind takes a back seat while the practitioner communicates with his unconscious. The unconscious part of your mind controls much more of your life and your actions than you probably realize. For example, your unconscious plays an enormous role in who you like, and has its own reasons for influencing the choices you make. Your unconscious remembers what you cannot hope to remember with your conscious mind. Therefore, you may find yourself hostile to a person because of his similarity with an undesirable figure from your past. Although you have no knowledge of this connection, you act upon it because your unconscious is much stronger than your conscious will. The average person will have no clue of the role that the unconscious takes in their decision making, or even that such a role exists.

Being aware of your unconscious is a major step toward understanding yourself. Self-understanding is a goal that few people will ever completely reach. The work of the unconscious reveals itself most strongly during dreams, and hypnosis. The importance of dreams should never be underestimated, especially when a dream is particularly traumatic, or reoccurring. If you have a dream that you wish to understand, then send it to me, and I will e-mail you an analysis for it.

In recent times, hypnosis has become more accepted due to research using brain-imaging technologies, including PET, MRI, and EEG. While neither of us would advocate the use of hypnosis for reprogramming people, except for extreme circumstances, and addiction recovery; it is nevertheless the studies into hypnotic reprogramming which have revealed conclusive proof of the power of hypnosis. The brain scans of hypnotized individuals show that they actually think what they are told is reality, even when it is clearly not. A study in the year 2000 was reported in The American Journal of Psychiatry which revealed that when hypnotized subjects were told a black-and-white picture was in color, their brain activity was consistent with seeing colors.